Lately I can't attend a workshop, networking event, business meeting without hearing a tale of woe about  "..they've stolen my website and won't give it back!"  The cry for justice varies from: "I don't know where my website is" to "I don't know how to find 'the guy' anymore."

Don't cry victim, don't be helpless, don't give up.  Take control.  Learn to ask the questions that will leave you informed.  This is YOUR marketing tool, YOUR identity, YOUR branding. Shouldn't you take steps to protect it, just like you would a product, logo or trade secrets?  (hint - the answer is YES!)

When you hire a web consultant or marketing guru, or whatever their title is; we'll assume you've done your due diligence and asked for references, seen samples and have an idea of their area of expertise.  Let's assume ALL of that.  You've hired them.  What information should they be required to give you as it pertains to your online presence? Think about it. The list is longer than you may think.  You should have ALL usernames/passwords, all locations of your data, email, domains and files.

But you knew that, didn't you?. I'm sure you have all of this in a neat and tidy list on your computer, right?  What?  I didn't hear you.  You don't have a clue what I'm talking about.  EEK!  Time to get that information. You have a right to all of it if you contracted with them, unless you have some contract that reads something similar to:

"...and as your client, I prefer to be beholden to you and let you keep all the keys to my online marketing campaigns, materials and promotions.  I prefer to be in the dark and totally dependent upon outside contractors without a Plan B if they get hit by a bus."

Just because you are not tech savvy, nor comfortable with too many details, you need to come up with a hit list of what you need to have; whether you understand it or not.  Then, they should be able to Playskool the information for you so that they aren't geek speaking over your head.  It should be made so you do understand the purpose of each item in the list. This is respect for the client. Whatever it takes to make it easy for your to understand, they need to do it.

Quick checklist to see if you need a professional online advocate to help you regain control or at least gather your own information:

1. What are all of your domains?
2. Who hosts your domain(s) and when does it/do they expire?
3. What is your domain host login username/password/secret questions?
4. Who are the domain contacts: owner, administrative and technical? (You should be at least two of these.)
5. Who is your ISP (Internet Service Provider)?
6. Who hosts your professional email?
7. Can you get to your mail remotely (through webmail)?
8. Can you send mail through your domain or do you need to send through your ISP?
9. Where does your website sit?
10. How much are you paying per month and for what services?
11. Who are the admin contacts on the account? (You should be.)
12. Is your website in one location or do you have a cart in one place, a blog in another? You need to know where all of these pieces are.
13. Is the site in the same location as the mail?
14. Can you set up and change email accounts as staff changes? If so, how do you do that?
15. How do you reach my web hosting, domain hosting and email hosting companies?
16. What is the login information for all of these?
17. What happens if your current web solutions provider is hit by a bus?  Who can take over for you quickly? Are there back ups of your site and raw files?
18. Is your current solutions provider working with partners, subcontractors that have access to your login and account information? They need to disclose this in case you need them as back up - or want to lock them out.
19. How do you login to upload files to your website (FTP)?
20. What about social media? Who has that list of logins? You need to have it all in one place.

This is only the beginning of what you should know about your own online presence.  We'll get into your print/collateral materials' list another time.